Checkmate
by ELfict
Summary: Beckett doesn't wants to admit her feelings for Castle but it's getting harder and harder denying it. Meanwhile some chess fanatic killer is on the loose. They just have to put him checkmate...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: My first Castle story, Please review and maybe give some advice**

Chapter 1 

_Tringgg…_  
"Dad could you get the door, I'm busy" Alexis yelled from upstairs

"Sure hon" he said distractedly. It was a Saturday night and Castle was making a start to his new Nikki Heat book. He sighed, closed his laptop and walked to the door. When he opened it he saw, to his own surprise, Beckett standing in the hallway.

"Eh… Hi, I wasn't expecting you to be here" He said. "Do you want to come in?"

"Yeah, thanks" Beckett said while following him into the apartment. Every time she came here she was surprised to see how big it was.

"You weren't expecting someone else were you?" She asked casually as if it didn't matter to her. Which it didn't really, I mean I don't care if Castle has a date right? A weird feeling spread through her body, but she couldn't quite place it.

"No, nobody actually. Just a quiet Saturday night, I was actually working on the new Nikki Heat" He said.

"Oh, how's it going with that?" She asked while she got a strange feeling of relief.

"Fine, I'm not that far yet." He looked at her wondering why she came here. Was she here to see him? He smiled a little at the thought. "Do you want to sit down?" he asked her while watching her look around in his apartment.

"Yes" she smiled at him and she sat next to him on the couch.

He looked at her, hesitated for a moment and then asked: "So, why are you here?"

"Oh I was just…" In the neighborhood? No, that sounded way to cheesy. "wondering…" Wondering what? She didn't know what to say. The truth was she just wanted to see him and know what he was doing but she couldn't tell him that could she? "Eh, If Alexis is alright." she finished her sentence.

With a bit amusement is his voice Castle answered: "She's fine, why wouldn't she be?"

"Dad, who was it?" Alexis asked while walking down the stairs. "Oh hi detective Beckett" Alexis said when she saw who was sitting next to her father.

"Call me Kate" Beckett replied with a smile.

"Eh, ok Kate. Do you got another case?"

Before Beckett could reply Castle said: "No, Kate here, was actually wondering if you were alright."

Alexis was about to say something but before she could Beckett already said "It was just-, I thought I heard Esposito say that you were sick so I came by to see If you were doing alright" It sounded pretty lame when she said it. She shot a glance at Castle who was watching her and Alexis with a slight sparkle of amusement in his eyes.

"Oh, well that's very nice of you, but I have to go back upstairs to finish my homework" Alexis said while giving her father meaningful looks.

When they were alone again Castle grinned and said: "So, did you miss me?"

"Yeah right, in your dreams Castle" She said while smirking.

"Oh come on, that crap about Alexis− That was the lamest excuse I ever heard."

"Excuse? Excuse for what? " Beckett said. She really hoped it wasn't that obvious that she was lying. Her dad always told her she was the worst liar there is. She didn't want Castle to think she liked him or something. She told herself that she only wanted to see him because she was used to having him around every day, but since there was no case today there he had taken the day off. So she hadn't seen him all day.

"An excuse to see me." He said expectantly.

"No, I really thought Alexis was sick."

"Ok if you say so… But what was it with that "call-me-Kate" stuff?"

"Well, I'm not on my duty so she can call me Kate"

Beckett got up and said to Castle who already stood in front of her: "Well, I gotta go, It's already late."

She walked to the door followed closely by Castle. When she got to the door she turned around and stiffened when she saw how close he was. "Just one more thing-" He whispered in her ear. "Can I call you Kate when you're not working?"

At first Kate was a bit dazed from, not only Castle standing so close to her, but also his breath in her ear. She noticed he smelled nice too. "Only if I can call you Rick." She answered.

"Until tomorrow Kate" He smiled at her.

"Goodnight Rick" She said and walked away.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank for all the reviews so far. I'll try to update a lot but I'm also kinda busy this week. I hope to add another chapter this weekend. I just watched the latest episode (2x7 if you're curious), really loved the ending. They really looked like a nice family together. (If you haven't watched it yet, you should. Not very much Castle/Beckett moments though)  
**

**Chapter 2  
**  
The next day while making breakfast Castle got a phone call from Beckett. "Hello" Castle answered the phone. "Hi Castle, there's been a murder at Washington square park." She said. "Ok, I'll be there as soon as I can." Castle replied and hung up.

Alexis who was sitting at the table looked up and asked: "So, another case?"

"Yup, so I have to go justice calls." He said enthusiastically.

Alexis rolled her eyes and said: "Dad, you know you're probably the only person who gets so excited about a murder."

"I'm a crime novelist, I'm supposed to." He said while grabbing his coat.

* * *

When she arrived Castle wasn't there yet. She felt a bit disappointed. Then she saw the body. It was lying on top of one of the chess tables.

She came closer where Lanie was already examining the body. Lanie looked up and filled her in about what happened. "He was stabbed and shot. From what I can see now is that he was probably shot before he was stabbed." Beckett didn't really listened anymore because she was too shocked from what she was seeing. There were three holes in his forehead and his throat was cut through. He was bare-chested, and there was a message written on his chest. The message was cut in deep with a knife. It said: Checkmate.

"Wow, someone is a chess fanatic." Her heart made a little flip when she heard his voice and she turned around to see Castle standing behind her.

"Good morning detective." He said to her with his most charming smile.

"Good morning Castle." She replied.

"Hey you two, come look at this." Lanie told to them.

They looked at the body. Beckett noticed his hands were clenched to fists. "There's something in his hand" Lanie said and carefully opened his hand.

It was a black king from a chess set. It was a heavy piece, probably marble. There was also something written on the inside of his hand. "I never lose." Beckett read out loud.

"Esposito, I want a couple of men staying here all day, and if anyone wants to play chess or has a chess set with them I want you to question them." Beckett said. "And also check if anyone is missing a black king from their chess set."

Castle had already put on some gloves and was holding the king. "Look!" he said while looking at the bottom from the piece. "It's engraved with the name of a shop" He said triumphantly. Beckett take a look at it. "The Chess Shop. Ok let's pay the store a visit shall we Castle?"

"I'm already ahead of you. I looked up the address on my mobile phone, it's just a couple blocks away from here."

* * *

When they got there the shop turned out to be closed. "Guess we just have to come back tomorrow then." Castle said and turned to Beckett who looked slightly irritated by the fact the shop was closed. "Yeah I guess so, but at least we're at the right place." she said, gesturing to the many chessboards that were standing behind the window.

"So Beckett I spoke with Esposito this morning and it turns out that he never said anything about Alexis being sick." He said and raised his eyebrow meaningfully.

"Look Castle, I already told you I _thought _I heard Esposito said something about Alexis being sick. I guess I just misunderstood." Please believe me, Please believe me Kate silently begged.

"Hmm hmm. So there was no other reason? Not even a little bit?"

While Castle was speaking she noticed him getting closer and closer to her. He was just a few inches away from her and she felt her heartbeat annoyingly speed up. This is not right she thought. I'm not the kind of girl that gets all gooey when someone gets close to her. Especially not Castle. Yeah he did safe her life once but he was just so annoying most of the time, following her around like that. But she knew she was lying to herself. She actually liked it when he was around her. Although she'd never admit it he did help her with her cases a lot.

"Was there?" Castle asked and Beckett looked up into his eyes.

She wanted to say something but she couldn't quite find the right words. After all she was the cop and he the novelist. His eyes were very pretty, she almost lost herself when her phone rang. Saved by the bell she thought. "Beckett" She listened to her phone. "Ok, we'll be right there."

Castle looked at her expectantly. "They got a fingerprint off the king. Apparently they already found a match."

"Okay let's go then." He said trying to hide his disappointment. He was disappointed about the timing of the phone call. He could feel that there was something between him and Beckett.

"What is it Castle, disappointed that someone found something before we did?" Beckett asked because she could easily see the disappointment in his face.

"No just disappointed that you didn't answer my question." He hinted and gave her encouraging glances.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Come on Castle, let's go."

"But −,"

"Now"

"Aren't you going to−,"

"There's nothing to say Castle."

"So−,"

"Will you just get in the car already?"

"Ok, but I'm not finished yet"

"Whatever you want Castle, but some of us are trying to solve a crime here."

"Did you just say: whatever I want?" He said and grinned.

"Oh don't be such a child Castle"

They kept arguing while getting in the car.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far, I really appreciate it. This chapter is a bit longer then the last two. I'm not sure when I'll be able to update again, but I'm trying to do it as soon as possible. I hope you like it!**

Chapter 3

"Hey Esposito, where is our suspect?"Kate asked when she walked into the office where Ryan and Esposito were talking to each other.

"He's in the interrogation room, we didn't question him yet. We thought you and Castle would like to do that." He gave her a grin

Castle, who was standing behind her was already enthusiastic. He loved questioning people with Beckett beside him, or actually Beckett questioning people while he was 'quietly' watching. Come to think about it enjoyed most of the things he did when Beckett was with him. He really meant it when he said they were a great team together.

"Castle" The voice of Kate Beckett interrupted his thoughts.

She was already standing on the other side of the office, file clutched under her arm, and her head turned towards him while she looked at him impatiently.

"Are you coming?"

He grinned his trademark 'Castle' grin and followed her.

"His name is Dave Winsor, he's a chess master and also wrote a couple of books about chess. One if is called: The success to chess." Beckett started fill him in while scanning the case file she was holding.

"Wait what? The success to chess? That is the lamest title I've ever heard." He chuckled a little but abruptly stopped when he saw the look on Beckett's face.

She continued: "When he was younger he used to play chess in Washington Square Park a lot. That was until he got arrested there for getting into a fight. It's says here that the reason he started the fight was because his opponent accused him of cheating."

"Oh, he actually doesn't seem that bad." Castle commented

"What?" Beckett said in astonishment. "Castle, he started a fight just because someone accused him of cheating. Also the file states that the person he'd attacked had several bruises, two broken fingers and a small concussion to his head."

"Okay, he might not be the nicest guy but it's nothing compared what I had gotten myself into. This once, a long time ago, I was playing cards in this grungy bar when suddenly this gorgeous women with huge−"

"Zip it Castle, I don't need to know. And if you still want to go inside with me you'd better behave."

"Okay I'll behave, but just so you know you can always tell me to misbehave with you" He said and winked.

Castle saw she was about to make a comment but before she could he quickly opened the door and entered the room where Dave was already waiting.

"Hi my name is Kate Beckett and this is Richard Castle, do you know why you're here?" Beckett asked when she had followed Castle into the room.

Dave smiled and replied: "I don't know, for being illegally good at chess?"

"You are here because of a murder that took place earlier." She said

"Wow, a murder? Excuse me detective but I think this is an accident. Because I know it kills people to see how good I am." He smiled. "By the way do you know how rich you can get with chess? Well, only if you're as good as I am of course. But if you want I can show you my place sometime." He winked at her.

Castle felt anger race trough him. How dare he wink at her?! He told himself to calm down. He really hated the guy. First of all because the terrible name of his book and second of all because of what he just said and did. Luckily for Castle Beckett seemed to feel the same way. He looked at her and saw that she was trying to keep up the 'nice cop' act.

"How come you lose a black marble king of a chess set?" Castle took over.

"What? I don't have a marble chess set. I usually play with stone or wooden pieces. Yesterday I was looking for a marble chess set in the chess shop. The shop owner told me to feel the black king, he told me that it was the best chess set in the whole city. So I picked up the king and some other pieces and I really liked it."

"So did you buy it?" Beckett asked him.

"No, although I did want to. But when I finally decided I wanted to buy it he said it wasn't for sale. I even offered him double price but he still wouldn't take it."

"Thank you for your time, you can go now." Beckett told him.

"Do you want me to leave my phone number just in case?" Dave asked Beckett completely ignoring Castle.

"Not necessary." Beckett said and walked away followed by Castle.

* * *

"I hate that guy!" Castle said when they were back at Beckett's desk.

"Yeah me too." Beckett replied. "You know first I thought you were arrogant but him… Most arrogant person I ever met."

"You find me arrogant?" Castle pouted and looked sad. "Now I feel very sad, maybe it will go away with a kiss?" He looked up to Beckett hopefully.

She just rolled her eyes and decided to ignore it. "So at least we got a lead. The shop owner clearly wanted that guy's fingerprints all over so the blame was on him. Hey Ryan can you find out who's the owner off the chess shop?" She asked Ryan who just came in with a steaming cup of Coffee.

"Sure detective."

Ryan typed in a few things on his computer. About two minutes later he got a name and an address which he handed over to Castle and Beckett.

Castle put on his most charming smile and opened the door for Beckett. They went to the car and drove to the address Ryan had given them. The man's name was George Newman.

When they knocked on the door no one answered. "Can I kick the door open now?" Castle asked happily.

"Sure, if you think you know how." She answered.

"Pfff, it's a piece of cake. Watch and learn detective, watch and learn."

Rick Castle took a few steps back then walked to the door and kicked it. "Damnit that hurts!" Castle yelled while jumping up and down, holding his foot in one hand. The door was still closed.

"Very impressive Castle" Beckett said teasingly and kicked the door open without, it seemed, any effort. "When you're done whining maybe you can get in."

Silently and slightly embarrassed he followed her inside the house and closed the door behind him. It looked like just an average living room they were standing in. He was just looking around when Beckett told him to come to the office that was in the room next to the living room.

The office/study room had a nice shiny desk in the middle with a computer placed on top of it. On the sides were a lot of shelves. Some contained books, others pictures. He closed the door behind him and looked at the pictures. Some were pictures of young children, maybe his children or grandchildren perhaps? Others were pictures of a women and a man which he assumed to be George and his wife. Suddenly he heard someone opening the front door. He heard two voices talking to each other.

Beckett heard it too and was thinking of what to do. She could just face him and tell her she was here to arrest him. That was originally her plan but on the other hand if she and Castle would hide somewhere maybe they'd hear something important. She made a decision, but the only place to hide was underneath the desk.

She took a deep breath and then half pushed half jumped on him under the desk. Now she was lying on top of Castle. She could move because there was not enough space to fit under the desk otherwise.

Castle who was totally took by surprise whispered: "Woa, Kate if I'd known you wanted to jump my bones you could've just said so. Then we could just go back to my place because right now is not really the right time. But if you insist…" There was a smile plastered on his face.

"Shhh…" Kate said and placed her hand over his mouth. There were a lot of things she wanted to say but right now they couldn't get caught. She switched the voice recorder on her mobile phone on just in case.

Rick Castle really liked the way her weight was pressing on him. He could feel the heat of her skin against his. He felt his heart hammering away like crazy, or was it hers? The physical attraction he felt when she was this close was almost unbearable.

Kate felt some kind of connection between them she never felt before. She thought about how muscular his chest seemed to be. Her heartbeat sped up. She didn't dare to look him in the eyes because she knew she would get carried away in his pretty blue eyes. She was almost dreaming away at the thought when she heard footsteps getting closer.

They were both extremely silent. In this silence they both could hear their fast heartbeats. Someone opened the door and they froze, trying hard not to make any sound.

A/N: Please let me know what you think.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: So here's a new chapter, thanks for all the story alerts and reviews. And I also apologize if there are a lot of grammar mistakes. Hope you like it!**

**Chapter 4 **

The two people they heard before opened the door and stepped inside. "So want do you want to do now? Should we get rid of that old lunatic?" One of the two men who entered asked. It seemed like he was just the so-called 'sidekick' of the other man. Beckett, being a cop as always, already took mental notes when she looked at the shoes of the two men.

"No! Of course not you idiot. Right now the police will expect that stupid owner to be the one who did it. Especially when the shop stays closed for a couple of days." The other man replied. "Now let's prepare for those stupid cops to come here. Did you call the guys?"

"Yes I did, they will be here soon." He sounded proud of himself.

"Good. But right now why don't we just welcome our visitors?"

Beckett and Castle saw their feet move around the desk. Beckett grabbed for her gun but at the same time she reached it she felt the cold steel of a gun to her forehead. She looked up and saw the 'leader'. He had an evil smile on his face. He had half long black hair and greenish eyes. She saw the other man holding a heavy stone chess board and also a gun who was pointing at Castle.

"Get up missy, and you'd better be nice." He laughed and Kate Beckett slowly got up from underneath the desk.

"So I must say I'm impressed. I never thought the cops would be here this quick." He told her while pressing his gun to her lower back.

Castle was still lying on his back under the desk. He was looking at a gun that was pointed at him. Even though there was a gun pointed at him he couldn't stop thinking of what might happen to Kate.

"Excuse me where are my manners, you can call me… Felix and my friend over there Bob." The leader of the two men said. "So I see that your friend over there is unarmed. Isn't he a cop?" Felix always noticed everything, that's why he loved chess. He could think ahead look at what the other was doing, try to predict what his opponent was going to do and finally stop him from doing that and put him checkmate.

"No actually I'm not, I'm−" Castle started but before he could finish his sentence two things happened. Felix gave Bob some kind of silent sign and Bob lunged forwards and hit Castle with the stone chess board. Castle felt something really hard hitting his head and then everything went blank.

"Why did you do that?" Kate Beckett yelled and was full of anger.

"Shhh… don't worry we will give both of you a very quick death. You probably won't feel it, I got nothing personal against you so I'll make it quick." He smiled at her.

Suddenly she saw Bob handing Felix some kind of needle thing. The next moment she felt a sharp pain in her arm and then she felt her eyes closing.

-

_A/N: Since this chapter is very short I also posted Chapter 5 at the same time.  
_


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: So here's chapter 5 please let me know what you think.**

**Chapter 5 **

Castle opened his eyes. The first thing he thought was: I'm still alive. The second thing was: Where's Kate? He felt a really annoying deep pain in his head. His arms were tied together on his back and he was sitting against someone else's back. With a shock he realized that it was Kate Beckett. At first he didn't feel her hands bound together with hers either but then he felt the warmth of her hands against his. Since her hands were still very warm he figured she must be alive too. A feeling of relief spread through his body followed by worry that she might be hurt.

"Kate! Kate are you okay?" Castle decided since they were both held captive by some psycho he could at least call her Kate.

"Sort of, are you okay too?" She asked secretly liking the way he said her name. She had already called him before but he wasn't awake then. She was happy that he was finally awake.

"Yeah, apart from my headache I'm fine."

They sat in silence for a moment, scanning the room they were now in. It was a small room with one double bed. They were sitting on some sort of Asian rug with apparently a lot of stains on it. The curtains were closed. It looked like a cheap hotel room.

"You know, I always wanted to create a closer bond between us but I never expected it to be one made of a real rope" Castle said, smiling.

Beckett just sighed, happy that even under these circumstances Castle was still Castle.

"It's three PM by the way, that means we've been here for at least twenty four hours." Castle said after he looked at the small clock radio that was standing on the nightstand.

They both were silent again, trying to figure out what they could do to get the hell out of there. Kate thought that if she was going to get out of there alive she wanted to tell Castle, or Rick, that well… that she had clearly feelings for him. Even right there his hands so warm against hers, she couldn't deny she felt something.

She was a bit dreaming away when Castle interrupted by saying: "Okay detective, I think this delightful tea party has to end. On three you have to push your back against mine so we can get up together. One. Two… Three."

They both pushed and slowly they started to lift up from the ground.

"We did it." Beckett said.

"Why do you sound so surprised? I always have good ideas." Castle said.

Beckett coughed and Castle chose to ignore that.

"Castle walk over to the right side of the bed."Beckett ordered.

Castle was about to make a comment about the 'bed' part when Beckett was already walking towards the bed tugging him along. He was now slowly walking backwards.

Beckett already felt that the rope was very well tied. She only knew that Felix would probably know that since she was a cop she also had to learn how to untie several knots. The only way she could release their hands from this rope was if she had scissors or something else that was sharp.

She was close to the nightstand, Castle was still moving along. "Castle help me to open the nightstand." Beckett said and Castle obeyed silently.

Together they opened the drawer from the nightstand. Beckett looked over her shoulder to see what was inside. It was empty. "I've got an idea" Castle said and moved their hands to the alarm clock that was on top of the nightstand. He picked it up and tagged her along to the wall.

"We just have to hit the display against the wall very hard." He said.

"Okay when I say: Now" Beckett told him.

"NOW!" She said and together they hit the clock against the wall. They heard the plastic display breaking.

Carefully Beckett traced her hands over the broken display. She felt a missing piece of plastic and pushed her finger inside. She could feel that the display was weak at that point and she pulled, trying to break off a piece of plastic. After a few seconds the plastic gave in and broke. She held it in her hand and started cutting in the rope.

Castle took the alarm clock from her to break off another piece of plastic, and started helping her.

After what seemed a very long time Beckett finally got one hand of her own free and several minutes later Castle had released one of his own hands as well. Now they could finally turn around to actually see what they were doing.

They turned around and Kate was startled at the distance between them. She tried to focus very hard on the rope and she felt his breath against her hair.

"Kate−" Castle said and she looked up. They stared into each other's eyes for a moment.

Kate wanted to lean in and kiss him and tell him how she felt. But she knew that they needed to get out of this room as quick as possible. So she dropped her gaze and said: "Castle we really need to get out of here."

"Yeah I know." He said and they both continued to cut the rope.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: So here's the next chapter. I don't know how many chapters there are going to be after this but I'm guessing probably one or two. Thanks for all your reviews, they really keep me going. **

**Chapter 6 **

After they finally managed to release their selves Castle and Beckett walked over to the door of the hotel room.

"Okay let's get out of here shall we?" Castle said with a charming smile and silently prayed the door would be open. Just as he was going to open the door it already swayed open. At the other side were Felix and Bob, Felix with a triumphant smile across his face.

"I've gotta say, I'm honestly impressed. I guess the cops are just better these days." He said and Castle and Beckett slowly moved away from the door as he entered the room, silently followed by Bob.

"So, you might've noticed you are not dead." Felix continued while studying his nails.

Both Castle and Beckett looked at each other not knowing what to do or say.

"I figured I might as well play a little before I kill you." He smiled. But it wasn't the kind of smile you would like to see on anyone's face.

"I was thinking a game for your lives, if I win I'll kill you. If I lose I'll let you run before I catch you again and probably also kill you. What do you say?"

Castle decided to say something because otherwise Felix might get offended if they remained silent. " So our choice is die immediately or first have a chance to escape and then die?"

"Very good Mr. Castle." Felix said and felt amused when he saw shock spread across both Castle's and Beckett's face because he knew his name.

"You both really need to keep up, I'd really expected better from you. You didn't even notice your wallet and phone weren't in your pocket anymore Mr. Castle? And you Detective Beckett, aren't you missing your badge?"

Castle felt his pockets and they were both empty as were Beckett's.

"What game are you suggesting?" Castle asked but already had a feeling about what the answer was going to be.

Felix just let his grin grow wider as he said: "Chess."

Of course she already suspected this but still. Beckett thought about when she was younger. Her father had tried to learn her how to play chess but she never really liked it, neither did her mom. So the only one she could play against was her father. And since he hated losing she never actually became good because she didn't wanted to let her father lose. Right now she wished she had paid better attention when her father had explained it to her.

She looked at Castle wondering what he was thinking. Then she saw him take a step forward and say: "Okay I'll play."

He looked at her with his serious face. His mother's boyfriend Steve, the one she had when he was thirteen, had learned him how to play chess. He had become quite good at it but it was a long time ago since he had last played. Still he knew a lot of tricks to win. But should he win? Of course Felix had said that he would kill them immediately after he would lose. But then again, if Felix won he would be in a good mood, and Castle could maybe persuade him into letting them run anyway. Just for Felix's game. But if Castle would win Felix would probably be outraged, after all he had killed someone just because he was defeated.

Castle decided he would try to win, and if he lost he would try to get Felix to set them free.

Bob was getting chairs and a little table ready and positioned all the pieces on the chessboard.

"Come on Mr. Castle… Let's play."

* * *

"Checkmate." Castle said after he made his final move.

"NO! YOU CHEATER!" Felix yelled. As Castle had predicted he was outraged.

"Felix, you were a much better player. It was probably just beginner's luck." Beckett said trying to get Felix to calm down.

Apparently it worked. Felix seemed calmer and got himself together. "You're right detective. I'm an honest man and I'm going to keep my promises" He said with an evil smile.

"So you're going to let us go?" Castle asked just to be sure.

"Yes. But I am going to keep an eye on both of you, just so you know." Felix said and turned to Bob.

"Bob let them out will you." He ordered and smiled as he was going over his plan. He loved to play. Letting them go would be a nice challenge, a risk, but he was willing to take it. After all… he always won.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thank you all so much for the reviews, story alerts etc. Without them this story probably would've stranded somewhere around chapter three. So for everyone who responded in any way to this story, here's a new chapter and I hope you'll like it.**

**Chapter 7 **

Just as they walked through the door Castle turned around and said: "Wait."

Beckett gave him a warning look.

"Can we have our stuff back? You know my wallet, our phones and her police-badge."

Felix looked amused and answered him: "You can take one thing, but I'm keeping your phones."

Before Beckett could say anything Castle already took the lead and said: "We'll take the badge please." After that Felix gave it to them and let them go. And all the time he had this serene creepy smile plastered on his face. Both Beckett and Castle had the feeling he was up to something. Something they weren't going to like.

Once they were out the building they let out a sigh of relief. "Okay, I see a payphone across the street, let's call Ryan and Esposito." Castle said.

"Call them with what money, you do know it's called a payphone?" Beckett replied. "Why didn't you ask for your wallet back anyway?"

"Well, I wanted a new wallet. And I know you really like your job and since that badge is a part of your job I figured you would like to have it back. That and it might come in handy." Castle told her with a charming smile.

"How do you mean it might come in handy?" Beckett asked one eyebrow raised in suspicion.

"When you show that badge I'm sure people will lend you some money. That way we can use the payphone." Castle explained

"Although it's a wonderful idea to walk around begging for money, I think we could also just ask if we could borrow someone's phone for a quick call." Beckett replied, not able to keep the sarcasm out of her voice when she was talking about his idea to beg for money.

"Em, yeah you could probably do that as well." Castle said with a disappointed look on his face because he hadn't thought of that before.  
Beckett walked over to someone and Castle followed her. "Sir I'm detective Beckett, NYPD. Can we maybe use your cell phone for a short phone call?" She asked the man while showing him her badge that she held out.

"Yeah of course." The man said and got an expensive looking phone out of his pocket.

Castle whistled appreciatively as he checked out the man's phone. "Nice phone." He told the man and gave him a friendly smile. Beckett had already dialed the number and turned around to Castle to roll her eyes at him.

"Esposito." Beckett heard him answer the phone. "Hey Esposito it's Beckett, we found the killer. His name is Felix, well at least I think it is and…" She started but Esposito interrupted her. "Beckett someone else took over the case, yesterday afternoon the owner of that chess shop, George Newman, was found murdered in his own shop. The first victim was called Alex Gruntel." Esposito was filling Beckett in. "But why did someone else took the case?" Beckett wanted to know. "Eh, yeah about that. They thought it would get too… personal." He said sounding very sorrowful. "How do you mean personal?" Beckett said with puzzled a puzzled look on her face.

Beckett heard some noise and suddenly the voice of a strange man was at the other side of the line asking: "Where are you?" Beckett, suspecting it was one of the detectives who took over the case answered: "Who are you?" The man said: "I'm detective Hagen, detective Chavira and I took over the investigation. But right now it's really important to know where you are."

"We're on East 42th street." She said. "We? So Castle's with you?" Detective Hagen asked.

"Yes he is but−" Beckett started but was cut off by detective Hagen. "Okay just stay there. We are coming over there right now but don't move." After that she heard him hang up the phone.

Beckett handed the phone over to the man she'd borrowed it from and thanked him before she turned to Castle.

Castle who had seen the puzzled look on her face during the phone call asked: "So what did they say?"

"It was kind of strange. Esposito told me someone else had took over the case because it was too personal. He also said that they found the owner of that chess shop, murdered. After that another detective got the phone and wanted to know where we are. He told me that we should stay right here." Beckett replied, her brow furrowed.

"Hmm… I guess that does sound kind of strange." Castle said. "But I think we'll better wait then." He suggested.

"Yes." Beckett answered and they stood next to each other, silently watching the bypassing cars as they were lost in their thoughts.

After what seemed hours they heard sirens getting closer. Sirens from police cars. Beckett waved at one of them to let them know where they were.

Three police cruisers pulled over and out all of them came police officers, guns pointed at Castle and Beckett.

"Hands in the air!" One of them yelled at them.

"It's alright, that psycho killer isn't−" Castle started.

"HANDS IN THE AIR!" The officer repeated.

Castle and Beckett exchanged totally shocked looks and kept their hands in the air.

Two police officers came up behind both of them and pushed them against the police cruiser as they cuffed Castle and Beckett's hands on their back.

"Richard Castle and Katherine Beckett you are under arrest for the murder of Alex Gruntel and George Newman. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you." One of the policeman said.

"This is clearly a mistake." An astonished Beckett said as she saw Castle being pushed in the back of one of the police cars.

"Our evidence is clearly not a mistake detective." The man replied as he pushed her into another car and he closed the door behind her.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Felix had pulled the curtain a small part aside so that he could watch the scene across the street. He smiled as he saw the astonished looks appear on the faces of Castle and Beckett. Oh yes, he thought, this was going to be fun…

-

**A/N: Well there's a twist. Remember that in the last chapter I said there would probably be one or two more chapters? Well, that's so not true. To be honest I didn't think this chapter was going to end up to be like this. But I figured Felix wouldn't let them off the hook that easy.  
So if you read this so far I would really like you to review. If you didn't read that far I would like you to review as well :-P  
**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Sorry for taking so long. I just had 'A Death in the Family' (to keep in Castle terms) and it has been a bit of a hectic week. To make it up to you this chapter is the longest so far. As always I will be looking forward to your reviews, they make me want to write more. So enjoy! :D **

Chapter 8

Castle and Beckett were brought in to the precinct separately by detectives Hagen and Chavira.

As they were escorted to the interrogation rooms, hands cuffed on their back, Ryan and Esposito looked at them. They both swallowed hard at the sight of their boss and Castle, cuffed. Both Ryan and Esposito didn't believe they killed Alex and George but they weren't on the case anymore. They were sure there had to be some kind of explanation and they both knew that Castle was usually the one who came up with those.

* * *

Castle shot a last glance at Beckett who was being led into the first interrogation room as he was forced to walk to the next one. Beckett also looked at him and Castle could see the fear mixed with confusion and anger clear in her eyes. He felt the urge to go up to her and hold her in his arms, telling her it would be alright. Bet he didn't know if it would be alright. He sighed as he saw the door to the interrogation room Beckett was in close behind her. He felt a push in his back and heard detective Hagen say: "Just keep walking." In a stern voice.

When they reached the door of interrogation room two detective Hagen led him to the chair while he informed Castle from his rights. Castle sat down and let his gaze wander around the room he'd become quite well acquainted with over the last months, although he'd never looked at it from this new perspective before. As the detective took a seat he let his mind wander over to Kate Beckett…

* * *

"You have the right−" detective Chavira started.

"I know the rights." Beckett cut him off. "I'm a detective too in case you forgot." She informed him. Although she was a bit afraid of what was going to happen she was also pissed because _she_, of all people, was a suspect in a murder case.

"No I didn't forget that. I do wonder why a good detective like you would do something this gruesome. Did your work get to your head?"

"I didn't kill anyone!" She said. "But I do know who _did _kill the victims."

"Ah, is that writer the one who killed them then? It does figure seeing he has a police record. It's not the smartest tool though. So did you plan it and let him kill them?"

"No! I had nothing to do with this neither did Castle. This guy named Felix and his friend Bob did it. They tried to kill us!" She said hating the fact detective Chavira had accused Castle and her.

"So you're saying it's all just a coincidence… The fingerprints, the gun, the pictures from the security camera−" He started summing up.

Beckett became a little pale at that list of evidence but didn't believe they actually had it. After all, she had nothing to do with it. "I don't know what you're talking about." She said.

"Well maybe this will help you." He said as he opened a case file lying on the table and began to read facts from it. "It says here that you were gone since yesterday morning. No one heard a thing from you or Castle until this afternoon. George Newman, owner of the chess shop, was killed with a gun that was found in Castle's apartment. The gun was registered to him and was bought yesterday afternoon with his credit card. Also the knife the first victim was killed with was found in your apartment." He looked up from the file to see her reaction as she let this sink in.

He continued: "The murder took place yesterday night. All the security cameras in the street were disconnected. But the one on the inside of the storage room, where George Newman was found, was still on. It has registered the both of you leaning forward into the room and then quickly back. After that the camera was also disconnected."

"That can't be true." Detective Beckett said while becoming paler by the minute.

"And how do you explain this then?" Detective Chavira said as he pulled some pictures from the case file and laid them down for her to see.

On the pictures you could clearly see Castle and Beckett, although it wasn't a very good picture. It was taken from the side, so that you couldn't really see their faces that good. But Beckett had to admit that it was a picture of her and Castle. She also noticed that you could only see their upper bodies and that they had their eyes closed. Just as she started thinking about that Chavira's clear voice cut through her thoughts.

"And if that isn't enough we also found your fingerprints on the knife we found, and Castle's fingerprints on the gun. In the hand of George Newman we also found a piece of a chess set, this time without fingerprints."

* * *

"But what about motive?" Castle, who had just heard exactly the same as Beckett had heard, asked. "I mean it is a lot of evidence but why do you think we would've killed them, and especially in this way?"

Detective Hagen frowned at that comment but quickly went back to his poker face. "Because you're a writer, you wanted it to be more than just the average murder." He said sounding pleased with himself for finding this answer.

"Even if that would be true what about Beckett, why would she do this?" Castle was trying his best to give the detective a hard time. And of course he tried to let him see that Beckett and him where innocent.

Detective Hagen had a frustrated look on his face and said: "Just let me ask the questions okay?"

Castle smiled at that comment, knowing he couldn't come up with a motive for Beckett. It was sort of a relief to know that they found Beckett more innocent than him. Now he knew that his mind was racing over the evidence detective Hagen had shown him. Of course Felix had both murder weapons so he'd broke into Castle's apartment and left the evidence there. Since Beckett and Castle were knock out he could just get their fingerprints all over them.

The thought of Felix or Bob in Castle's apartment made Castle nauseous. Alexis and some psycho killer in the same room made him worry sick about her.

"Hm, well I think that this was all for now." Detective Chavira said. "I will bring you to your cell where you can spend the night."

Castle was escorted to a cold cell, with nothing then cement on the floor. There was a small bench at the wall where he would be sleeping. He looked at the empty cell next to him hoping that Beckett would soon be there beside him.

* * *

"What proof do you have that the persons you say are the real killers?" Detective Chavira asked Beckett, not really sounding as if he were taking her seriously.

"Well I have a sound file on my phone…" She said.

"Okay and where is this 'phone' ?" He asked her.

"He took it away but he also drugged me to sleep. Look." She said as she pulled up her sleeve a bit to show the needle mark on her arm.

"Hm, yes well that could be a reason." Detective Chavira murmured to himself while scribbling down something .

"What could be a reason for what?" She asked.

"Your motive to work together to kill people with Castle. He drugged you and then convinced you to kill." He stated.

"No Castle didn't drug me or killed anyone neither did I. I'm telling you the truth!" She said. Beckett was getting really tired of this.

"Well let's continue this tomorrow, maybe a night in the cell would help you make up your mind a bit." With that he led her to the cell next to Castle.

As she walked by he looked up and gave her a reassuring smile. Once she was inside the cell detective Chavira took off her cuffs and locked the door behind her. The only thing that separated her from Castle were iron bars between their cells. As she heard the footsteps form detective Chavira die away she looked at Castle who was sitting as close to the bars as possible.

"Hey." He said as she sat next to him the cold iron bars pushing in her arm.

"Hey." She said to him as she felt the heat of his skin against hers. That feeling made her feel better than she had all afternoon.

Castle wanted to say something but didn't know what. He decided to just sit beside her in silence. As his thoughts went over the afternoon again and again he looked aside to see Beckett sleeping. She had her mouth open a little bit and breathed steadily. She had fallen asleep almost against him, and he smiled contently at the sight of her sleeping. He slowly fell asleep too, his thoughts not longer about the murder but about the women next to him, Kate Beckett.

**A/N: I haven't written the next chapter yet but I do have one word, well... two words actually: Prison break. And I don't mean the tv-series. :P**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Thanks to your reviews I tried to update as soon as possible, which is right now. I just watched the promo for the new Castle episode, The fifth bullet, and it was genius! Can't wait to see it. Oh and I always love reviews so knock yourself out. :P**

**Chapter 9**

"Castle! Castle wake up!" Beckett whispered while poking Castle in his arm with her finger.

"Huh?" Castle said, still half asleep.

"We need to talk." Beckett said and she turned a bit so she was now facing his cell.

It took him a few seconds to remember where he was but when he did Castle was completely awake. He looked aside to see Beckett watching him, a serious look on her face. As he saw that he sat up straight and said: "Yeah sure, what about?"

Beckett's expression became slightly amused at that respond. She inwardly laughed at Castle's unawareness. "Well maybe about how we are going to get Felix and Bob in here instead of us? I don't know if you've noticed but we're locked up behind bars." Her amused expression fell when she told him that.

She saw him watch her intently and suddenly jump up to walk small circles in his cell, his brow furrowed.

"Castle, what are you doing?" She said as she watched him puzzledly.

"Thinking." He simply said without looking up. There must be some sort of way out of this mess, he thought. Some way to prove that Felix was the actual killer and that they were innocent. The only way to do that if someone found Felix and dragged him in here. Or if they could get back Beckett's phone. Suddenly it hit him.

Beckett watched as a grin slowly spread across Castle's face as he stopped pacing around.

"Do you have a plan?" She asked.

"Prison break." He said as he moved toward her, a smile still plastered on his face.

"What?!" She said, her mouth falling open in shock. "Like we aren't in enough trouble!"

"Well think about it, the cops obviously don't believe us and we have no proof. We can't get proof as long as we're in here… So it's the logical solution." He said as if breaking out of prison was something he did on a daily basis.

"The _logical _solution." Beckett said more to herself then to Castle. She started walking to the end of the cell and back. "We're innocent people with no proof of that fact and a lot of evidence against us. How do we solve this? By breaking out of prison of course." She was muttering sarcastically.

"Okay I'm in." Beckett said out of nowhere.

Castle, looking a bit taken aback, asked, just to be sure he heard it correctly: "You're in?"

She had stopped walking and moved as close as she could to him. He noticed a playful sparkle in her eyes that he hadn't seen often before. "I'm in." She said as the corners of her mouth turner slightly up.

Castle walked up to her and she could feel his warm breath on her face as he said: "Good."

"One question though, how are we gonna do this?" She was being rational as always. She had not the slightest idea how they would be able to do this.

Castle was getting the serious look back on his face and he thought about the answer to her question. To be honest he had no idea. He took a deep breath and was about to tell her that when he heard a loud cough to his left. He and Beckett were both startled at the sound and jerked away from each other.

"I guess that's the part where we come in." Detective Esposito said, detective Ryan next to him with keys in his hand. Both had a smug smile on their face.

"You guys are the best!" Castle said fully back in his charming wise-ass role.

Beckett on the other hand was very worried. "Ryan, Esposito! There are security cameras everywhere! You could both lose your jobs."

"Don't worry we know a tech-dude. It's all being taken care of." Ryan said while unlocking both doors.

"Just get out of here quick and be careful." Esposito said.

"Oh and eh… You might want to take this." Ryan said as he handed them a copy of the case file and their coats. "I put your gun and badge in the pockets."

"Thanks, I really appreciate this." Beckett said sincerely and gave them a warm smile.

"Let's go shall we?" Castle said and offered Beckett his arm which, to his own surprise, she took and the both left the precinct.

Ryan and Esposito who were both closing up behind the yelled at them: "Don't call us unless it's an emergency or if you got the guy. They might be listening to our phone calls, especially when they find out if was from you."

"Don't worry about it. And thanks again." Castle yelled back as he and Beckett walked into the dark night.


	10. Chapter 10

**I just watched the latest episode (2x11). Sadly that means no more episodes until January 4th. If you haven't watched it yet, you should. And of course I want to thank you for your reviews, I really appreciate them. They make me want to update faster. So here's another chapter, some fluff at the beginning and later on… Well you just have to see for yourself.**

**Chapter 10  
**  
"Where are we going?" Beckett asked Castle, who was tagging her along to the side of the road.

"To my apartment." Castle said while a taxi stopped in front of him.

"What? But that's most likely the first place they'll look when they find out we're gone."

"Don't worry, it's only a quick stop." Castle said as he opened the car's door for Beckett, gesturing for her to get in.

"But we don't have any money!" She hissed softly so the driver wouldn't hear it.

"I have a spare wallet and cell phones at my place. We're just going to get that, I'll write a quick note to Alexis and then we're out of there." Castle explained after he gave the cab driver his address. "Don't worry it will be okay."

Beckett sat back and closed her eyes. She hadn't slept much and everything was just going way to fast. In the last days she and Castle have almost been murdered but instead they were kidnapped. When they were finally out of there, they were the suspects. She had spent a part of the night in prison and now they were out again to search for evidence that they were innocent. It was just too much.

Castle watched Beckett as she closed her eyes. Her brow became furrowed and she seemed deep in thought. He smiled when he remembered the first time she had done that. "_The way your brow furrows when you're thinking… it's cute." _He had said and he still thought so. He reached out for her hand and took it in his, gently caressing it.

Beckett suddenly felt that Castle took her hand and she opened her eyes. She didn't look at him but she just stared at their hands, a soft expression in her eyes. Somehow that small gesture felt strangely reassuring. She couldn't hold back a smile. The rest of the ride they just sat next to each other in a comfortable silence.

When they reached Castle's apartment building Castle said to the cab driver: "We'll be right back, just keep the engine running."

They both exited the car and went into the apartment building. Castle opened the door and went straight to his office, where most of his stuff was. He grabbed a pen and wrote a note for Alexis saying: "_Dear Alexis, Beckett and I are innocent and are trying to get the guy who did this. We're all right. Love, dad."_

Castle opened a drawer from his desk and got two phones and his wallet out of it.

"Detective, can you come here for a sec?" Castle asked as he opened another drawer and began to get stuff out of it.

Beckett entered the room and looked at all the expensive looking stuff that was lying on Castle's desk. "Castle what is all of this?"

Castle who was still ravaging trough the drawer looked up and said with a grin: "There was a time when I was really into spy-things. I ordered a lot of things online. Oh and this phone is for you." He tossed her a phone.

"And what are you going to do with the rest?" She asked him suspiciously.

Castle, who looked like a small kid in Disney land with all his 'gadgets', started to unbutton his shirt.

"Castle what are you doing?" She said.

"What does it looks like I'm doing?" He said a grin still plastered on his face when he took off his shirt. Beckett froze and tried to respond. "Castle… eh…" She started but was distracted by his naked torso.

Amused with her reaction Castle picked up the one thing on the table that actually looked fairly normal. It was a light blue shirt. He started putting it on and pulled it straight. "Okay we're ready to go." He said as Beckett slightly regained her posture now with a puzzled look on her face.

She followed Castle into the living room where he left the note for Alexis. He grabbed his coat that he had left on the couch and put it on.

"Why…?" Beckett started, not sure how to continue. "Why did you change your shirt and left all the gadgets on your desk?" she asked.

"Beside I loved to see the look on your face…" He started while grinning broadly when Beckett rolled her eyes. "This is actually the best gadget. One of the buttons is a camera and it also records sound, I thought that might be handy." Outside his apartment Castle locked the door behind him and they went outside where the taxi was still waiting for them.

"Where do we go to now? We don't know where they are." Beckett said.

"I thought we should go to Washington Square Park, and maybe walk around in that area." Castle replied.

"Okay, and if we don't find anything there we'll just go to East 42 street, where we were held by Felix."

They both got in the car and told the driver to go to Washington Square Park. The car drove away and when the car had to stop at a traffic light Castle noticed they were going in the wrong direction.

"I'm sorry but I think we're going the wrong way." He told the driver. The driver turned around and for the first time they saw his face. A chill ran across his spine when he saw who it was, Bob.

"No we're going exactly in the right direction." He said with a smile. "I have a button right here that triggers a small bomb placed under that lovely detective's chair. If either of you makes one move or sound, she will die. Or lose some body parts."

Castle went totally pale and Beckett as well. They both immediately froze and didn't dare to argue with him. The traffic light turned green and the car started to drive again.

**A/N: **I'm really sorry for this cliffhanger, I just thought this was the best way to end this chapter. I will probably update this weekend, maybe sooner if you're lucky. Let me know what you think.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: So here's the new chapter, as promised. I want to thank everyone for all your enthusiasm, I really appreciate it :D Please review, I always love to read what you think.  
Not much Castle and Beckett in this chapter but you do get a look inside Felix's head…**

Chapter 11 

Felix was sitting in a nice comfy chair staring out the window, an absentminded look in his eyes. He had won, once again. He took the pictures out of his pocket, smiling at them. There were three pictures, the first one was a picture of the murdered Alex Gruntel. He scoffed when he thought of how stupid that kid was, thinking he could win from him, Felix.

FELIX, FELIX, FELIX. He repeated the name in his head. He thought it sounded like a name of a winner, an name worthy of his character. "_Alfred, you are a loser do you hear me?" He looked up to his father. "I can't believe you didn't score! The goal was empty. You know what you are Alfred? You are a loser!" He father yelled at him and slapped him across his face. "What are you?" His father asked him. "A loser, dad." He said as a tear fell on the ground. " What is that? Real boys don't cry, only losers do. Alfred, the name of a loser!" He watched as his father walked away still angry at him. If only I wasn't such a loser he thought sadly. Then maybe my father would love me. He looked aside to see the other team being happy with the victory. "FELIX, FELIX, FELIX!" They yelled their team captain's name. The name of a winner…_

Felix looked at the second picture, George Newman. That stupid man had thought he might want a book about special tricks and tips to win at chess. Only losers read that crap. He smiled as he remembered the man coming in the chess shop, wanting to buy a new chess set. Felix had pretended to be the owner of the shop so that he could get that loser's fingerprints.

Then he turned his focus to the third picture, this time it was a women. He stared at her when he suddenly heard a light knock on the door. He turned around in his chair so he was faced towards the door. "Come in." He said.

The door went open and Castle and Beckett entered, followed by Bob, who was holding a gun to Castle's back. "Have a seat." Felix said and Castle and Beckett both sat down in a chair.

"Nice to have you back. I must say I really liked the nice little prison break." Felix said, a friendly smile on his face. When nobody said anything he said: "You both look quite calm, aren't you afraid?" Felix asked while he was closely eying Castle and Beckett.

"We know you won't kill us, you're trying to get the blame on us for the murders. If we're dead they will go looking for you." Castle said.

A grin spread across Felix's face and he let out a loud chuckle. "You're a funny man, Mr. Castle. You're right about that I won't kill you both. But if I kill one of you, the blame of that murder will also be on you."

Castle and Beckett looked at each other suddenly becoming a little pale. Castle couldn't imagine what it would be like… If he lost Beckett that would be almost unbearable. But if everyone believed he killed her, it would be even worse.

"Oh and I think I should thank you both, for getting out of prison, ruining your alibi for tonight. That way I could finish." Felix said.

"Finish what?" Beckett asked, although she wasn't sure she wanted to know.

"Winning. Now I'm the winner, winner of lives." Felix said.

"Do you mean you killed another person?" Castle asked.

"Yes. And I know you're recording this Mr. Castle." Felix said. "Bob check their pockets."

Bob took out the phones out Castle and Beckett's pockets and handed them over to Felix. Felix looked at them and then threw them hard against the wall.

"Did you really think I wouldn't notice that?" Felix said, clearly insulted.

Castle was relieved that he didn't know about the shirt-recorder. "Well, I was hoping…" Castle said as he looked at the scattered pieces of the cell phone.

"Can I ask you a question?" Castle asked Felix.

"Go ahead."

"How did you do it. Get the blame on us, I mean." Castle had some ideas but didn't know everything."

Felix leaned back in his chair placed his hands in his lap and started telling…

**-**

**A/N: Yeah, sort of a cliffhanger, again. Hopefully I'll update again tomorrow, don't forget to review.**__


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: This chapter's a little bit angsty. After this there will probably will be two or three more chapters. Let me know what you think!**

Chapter 12

"It wasn't easy, but I did it. First I went to the chess shop, where I bound George Newman in the storage space. After that I pretended to be the owner, I first shipped suspicion to that idiotic writer. That night I killed Alex Gruntel, leaving a message. The chess piece contained a fingerprint of him, and seen his history I thought it would be nice to make him the suspect first. Of course this all happened before I met you." Felix smiled at them.

"Anyway, I knew I wanted to get rid of George Newman as well, he was annoying. And then you showed up under my desk. When you were both unconscious I got your fingerprints all over the murder weapon I killed Alex with. After that I let a guy I know put it in the detective's house, since your keys were in your pocket it wasn't hard. Together with Bob we dragged you to the chess shop Bob is very good with tech stuff and disconnected all the cameras in the area. We held you up by your arms and let you lean in the shop first before disconnecting the cameras on the inside."

Castle's eyes grew wide at that. "That's… So smart." He said. He had to admit that even in his stories he wouldn't think of that.

"Thank you Mr. Castle. And as for your little escape tonight… You both lost your alibis. That way I could go ahead and kill my stupid ex. She broke up with me two months ago. But she couldn't just do that, she had to accept the consequences." Felix stared at the ground, motionless.

Felix looked up at them while they were both progressing what they'd just heard. "Okay, I'll leave you two alone for a second so you can decide who I'm going to kill." He said blankly.

"WHAT?!" Castle said, totally aghast.

"I think you heard me Mr. Castle. I'm gonna get rid of one of you and I'm letting you figure out who." Felix said and he and Bob walked out of the room and closed the door behind them.

"I will." Beckett said.

"Marry me? Sorry but now isn't the time…" Castle joked and then immediately turned serious again.

"No, I will be the one who's going to die." She said watching him as a horrified look spread over his face.

"No, you're not! If he's going to kill one of us it will be me." Castle said.

"No Castle! What about Alexis and Martha? Alexis needs you." She said. That one stung him, she could see it in his eyes. In the time she'd worked with him it became clear to her that Alexis was probably the most important thing in his life.

While he was trying to blink back his tears and keeping his voice steady he said: "She's strong. And you can be there for her. You know… I think she really likes you." His emotions were getting all mixed up right now. A small smile came across his face when he told Beckett that Alexis liked her. It was the truth, Alexis even thought Beckett was a good influence on himself, she'd told her.

"Castle you can't." Beckett said. She was trying to search for other things to say. "Felix will get the blame on me and then I go to prison, even if Alexis believes I didn't kill you, I still can't be with her."

The hurt was now evident on his face. "Kate don't… Don't say stuff like that. I will _never_ let you die." As he said that he looked her in the eye. Then he thought of something that might convince her. "What about your father? He already lost his wife, would you let him loose his only child as well?" Castle knew his words hurt her but that's the only way to let her live.

Beckett looked away from his eyes and stared to the ground, not knowing what to say. "He was an alcoholic, right? Castle continued. "You were the one who saved him, if you're gone who knows what will happen. He needs you Kate." He watched a tear go down her cheek and brushed it away with his thumb.

"I need you." He said softly causing her to look up, once again, getting caught in his blue eyes.

"Castle I'm not letting you die. I can't live with that." She said and the door sprang open as Felix entered the room.

"So have you decided yet?" He said brightly, as if he were talking about picking out colours for wallpaper or a new couch.

"Yes" They both said in unison.

"Good, who is it going to be?" Felix said brightly.

"Me." Beckett said and stepped forward, being sooner than Castle.

"No, Me." Castle said as he pushed her back behind him.

"It's too late Mr. Castle, the lady was first." Felix said. "I was thinking of something less violent, like poison. That also does the trick, and I did promise I would make it quick."

This was the moment, Kate Beckett thought. She'd read about it in books and seen it in movies. The moment when you know you'll soon be dead. They always say you see your whole live flash for your eyes, memories of the past. But it was different, she didn't see memories. She saw what could maybe be her future. And the future contained a lot of Castle…

Castle looked at Beckett, as always she looked extraordinary. He couldn't let her die. He hoped Ryan and Esposito would be here soon. When they were in the car and weren't supposed to move, he very carefully had sent a text message to Esposito. _911 _he had sent. That was the quickest way to make clear they had to hurry to trace the phone and rescue them. Felix had already destroyed the phones but hopefully they were able to trace the address before they did that. Otherwise Kate Beckett would soon be dead.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Snow, snow, snow. Yes while I'm writing this the first snow of the season is falling in Holland. Anyway, I'm sorry I didn't update sooner but I've been very busy this week. Thank you for all your reviews, they make me happy (as does snow :D). Read and let me know what you think!**

**Chapter 13**

Ever since Esposito had received the text message from Castle, everything at the 12th precinct seemed to be going twice as fast. Immediately after he'd gotten the text, he and Ryan started tracing the cell phone. They saw that the signal moved and figured they must be in a car.

Detectives Hagen and Chavira had been breathing down their necks the whole time, monitoring every move they made. They were finally able to trace the phone very specifically when it stopped moving. The place the signal came from was an office building.

"Okay, they stopped moving we should go there." Ryan said, already holding his coat.

"Yes but we have to be very careful otherwise they might get hurt." Esposito said.

Detective Chavira scoffed. "They already killed three people including the victim we found tonight, I don't think it's their safety we should worry about. We're doing this our way, and since this isn't even your case anymore you are lucky we even let you come with us."

Ryan and Esposito decided that it was best not to argue and lose precious time. So they silently hurried to their car.

"Bad news." Someone ran towards them coming out of the precinct. "We just lost the signal."

The detectives all looked at each other before getting in the car and driving away, sirens on.

* * *

Felix got out two glasses of red wine, that he was holding behind his back. "Okay let me explain this to you detective. I put poison in one of these glasses of wine, either you die by drinking the first glass, or you have to drink them both." Felix said and added, with a devilish smile: "Oh and if you don't drink it…" He gave a silent sign to Bob who got out his gun and pointed it to Castle's head. "Castle will die, but I'll let Bob shoot him so that he will have a slow painful death."

Beckett was fighting back tears and swallowed away the lump in her throat. She could feel his gaze before she saw him, and looked up into his eyes, that where piercing into hers. It was like he was trying to say something, telling her that it would be alright. But it wouldn't be. She felt tears starting to form in her eyes. Without thinking twice she stepped forward and threw her arms around him, holding him in a tight embrace.

He stiffened for a second when she suddenly embraced him. She was quietly sobbing and the tears fell down on his shirt. He let his body relax and he softly caressed her back. She had now completely let her guard down, something he'd never experienced before.

She heard a loud cough behind her coming from Felix. Although that would've usually startled her, now it made her pull Castle even closer. Somehow she felt safe in his arms, like if she stayed there nothing could happen to her. Then Felix pulled her away from him.

"Okay now that that's done, we can proceed. Bob." When he said that Bob pushed Castle away from Beckett even further and put the gun to his back. "Okay detective, which one do you want to drink first.?" He said holding out the glasses in front of her. "And remember, if you're messing with me for even one second, your friend dies."

* * *

By the time they had reached the office building it has started snowing, making it hard to see clearly. Detectives Esposito, Ryan, Hagen and Chavira got out of the cars, as well as their back-up. They quickly put on bullet proof vests and entered the building, checking every floor, starting at the ground floor.

When that floor was clear they went one story up, and proceeded. When they reached the fifth floor they heard voices coming from a closed office, and they quietly walked to the door listening to what was being said.

"Alright, this glass it is then. Enjoy it is very expensive wine." Felix said and handed the glass wine to Beckett. Castle wanted to step forward but was roughly pushed back by Bob.

"DRINK!" Felix yelled and with that Beckett drank, the whole glass. That was the moment the cops broke open the door.

"Police, drop your weapons." Ryan shouted, gun pointed to Bob who quickly dropped his gun.

All Felix did was smile. A creepy serene smile, as if everything still went the way he had planned.

Castle ran towards Beckett who was looking very pale. "Kate. KATE, are you okay?" Castle said while shaking her.

"I don't know I feel kind of sick and nauseous." She said with trembling voice. With that Felix's smile grew even wider.

Castle ran to Felix and punched him hard in his face with his fist. "HOW. CAN. YOU. STOP. THE. POISON. FROM. SPREADING." He said, hitting him at every word, causing him to bleed.

"Haven't you learned it yet Mr. Castle? I always win." He smiled and Esposito walked forwards to cuff Felix. Sirens from an ambulance where already coming closer.

Castle walked back to Kate who was even more pale than before, and put his arm around her, pulling her close to him.

**A/N: I'll update this weekend, I promise.**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: So here's the next chapter, as promised. Thanks you so much for your reviews, I really appreciate them. The next chapter will probably be the last. Enjoy this chapter and let me know what you think!**

Chapter 14

Kate Beckett was sitting in the ambulance, carefully being examined by a doctor. Castle sat next to her while holding her hand. They were both silent, waiting for the doctor to say something.

"You should be fine. It was just a harmless pill inside the wine that causes nausea and sometimes headaches. The other glass was tested positive for poison, if you had drunk that you'd be dead in less than one minute." The doctor finally said.

Castle felt all the worry just wash away and without thinking he grabbed Kate and pulled him very close against him. Kate was surprised but she didn't mind. After a few seconds Castle held her so close she could barely breathe so she said, "Castle, a little air please?"

Castle now realizing what he'd just done said, "Yeah, sorry" and pulled back. After the doctor gave her a pill against the nausea they could go. They stepped out of the ambulance, into the freshly fallen snow, where the police cars were waiting for them.

Kate shivered from the cold and Castle immediately gave her his coat. "It's okay Castle, you don't have to. Otherwise you'll be cold." She protested. "Are you kidding, even if I was lying naked in the snow I probably wouldn't even care. I almost lost you, and right now I probably would do anything for you, the coat is the least." He sounded sincere.

She felt very warm, but it wasn't from his coat. Castle held the cars' door open for her and got in after her. Ryan and Esposito were sitting up front in the car. In the other car, with detective Hagen and Chavira, were Bob and Felix. As the car started to drive Beckett suddenly furrowed her brow, as if she was trying to figure something out.

"How did you know where we were?" She asked Ryan and Esposito.

Esposito turned around to Castle and asked him, "Didn't she know about the text?" Beckett turned to Castle who answered him: "No, there was no chance. If Felix or Bob had found out they would've killed her sooner."

"What text?" Beckett asked both men. "When we were in the car with Bob, I send Esposito a text message saying _911_. I knew they would probably be able to trace the phone, and hopefully in time." Castle explained.

Beckett's eyes grew wide and she said, "That's… Very smart."

Castle grinned. "Why detective Beckett, is that a compliment I hear?"

She just sighed and smiled. She looked out the window, watching the snow fall. She had always loved snow. When it had snowed the world just seemed a little bit different, saver. Her mother loved snow as well, and every year when it had snowed, they built a snowman or sometimes woman.

Castle watched her as she stared out the window. She smiled and she seemed happy. Somehow he didn't dare to look away from her, as if she would be gone if he did.

* * *

When they arrived at the precinct Alexis and Martha were already waiting for them. "DAD!" Alexis jumped up, ran towards him and gave him a hug. "Are you alright? I was so worried." She said.

"Pumpkin, I'm fine." He assured her. Alexis watched Chavira and Hagen come in with Bob and Felix. "Which one hurt you the most?" she asked. "Em… Felix, that's the one on the right. Why did you ask?" But at the last part she was already walking towards Felix.

"Don't you ever hurt my father or detective Beckett again!" She yelled at him and slapped him across his face, that was already bruised by Castle. "Alexis!" Castle had ran towards her and grabbed her arm. "He's a psycho and a killer. You can't just go and hit psycho killers." He told her.

Kate Beckett watched their further conversation with amusement. She found him really sweet with his daughter. She smiled at the sight of them arguing. Ryan walked in with detective Chavira.

"Hey, Rick Castle and Kate Beckett. You are both still under arrest, because all the evidence says you killed three people. We just interrogated the others and they say that you wanted to kill them too." Detective Chavira said.

"Don't worry I have a confession and an explanation for the murders on video." Castle said and reached inside his shirt and pulled out a tiny chip, which he handed to Chavira. "okay you can go now." Ryan said. "No they most certainly can't! They'll go when I say they can go." Chavira said, clearly agitated.

"Bye." Castle said as he, Beckett, Alexis and Martha walked out of the precinct, ignoring Chavira.

" Mother, will you take Alexis home? I'm going to bring detective Beckett home first." Castle said to his mother.

"What? Castle I'm totally capable of coming home myself." Detective Beckett said.

"I didn't say you weren't, I'm just saying that I'm going to bring you home." Castle said.

She decided to not argue, since she was getting pretty tired. It had been a long day, and she just wanted to get home.

**A/N: To answer the reviews about not letting Beckett die, I could never do that. I don't know when I'll update again, it probably also depends on the reviews. I hope you liked this chapter.**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: The final chapter…**

Chapter 15

"You really didn't need to walk me all the way to my door, you know." Beckett said when she opened the lock from her apartment door. After she'd unlocked it she turned around to Castle.

"I wanted to, I want you to be save." He said as he took a step closer to her. Kate wanted to take a step back but was stopped by the doorknob in her back. She was now pinned between her door and Castle.

Castle who clearly was enjoying himself, was grinning and moved even closer so that their bodies touched almost everywhere. Kate heartbeat increased as she saw his face coming closer to hers until their noses touched. With a playful sparkle in his blue eyes he finally closed the last remaining bit of space between them and gently brushed his lips against hers. Her heart flipped as he kissed her, very gentle and carefully. Way too soon he pulled back and with one last smile he said, "Goodnight, Kate" and turned around to walk away.

Her eyes wide she stood in the hallway, her mind suddenly working twice as fast too make up for the time her mind went blank before. He was obviously aware of what he could do to her. He was playing, being in control. But he couldn't just kiss her, to leave her stand completely astonished on her doorstep. A hint of a smile suddenly played on her lips as she thought of something. Something that would keep her in control. She thought all of this within seconds, so Castle was still within reach.

Castle felt Kate pulling his underarm with her hand, making him turn around. Once he stood before her, he looked at her and saw a playful glimmer in her eyes. Before he could think of what that might be for, she totally surprised him by throwing her hands around his neck, pulling him closer, and kissing him. This kiss was completely different from the other one that had been gently, loving. She kissed him passionately while she ran her fingers through his hair. When he felt her tongue trace his lips his mind went completely blank, something that didn't happen often.

Kate pulled back to see the look on his face. His eyes were wide in amazement. His mouth went open to say something but then closed again, clearly not capable of forming words. With a wicked smile she said, "Goodnight Rick." With that she opened the door, stepped inside and closed it behind her, leaving Castle breath- and speechless on her doorstep.

She smiled to herself, thinking that at last she finally found a way to shut him up. This could be fun, he was now an even easier mark than before. She walked to her kitchen, where she poured herself a glass of red wine. Glass wine in her hand she walked to her bedroom and after putting the glass down on her nightstand she walked over to a bookshelf on the wall. She traced her fingers over the book covers all of them with the same name printed on them. Richard Castle.

She stopped when she reached the newest book to her collection and pulled it out. She took the book with her to her bed and sat down to pull the blankets over her. She took a sip of her wine as she opened the book she knew far too well. She couldn't help but smile when she read the dedication, again.

_To the extraordinary KB and all my friends at the 12th._

She started reading at the beginning, and couldn't help to wonder if he really had written all the chemistry in the book based on them. If that was true the future would be very promising she thought, page 105 in mind. She kept reading until she fell asleep, the book still open on her lap.

* * *

Rick Castle looked at the closed door in front of him, still speechless from the kiss. He looked down at his feet and pulled up his pants a little. Socks. He was still wearing them. He was almost convinced she'd knocked them off. When he finally came to the realization he was still standing for the closed door, all alone, he turned around to walk away.

As he walked over to the elevator he subconsciously licked his lips, that still had a faint taste of her lips on them. He smiled as he replayed everything in his head. He should've expected she would turn the situation around so that she was the one in control. Not that he wanted to complain. With a grin plastered on his face, one that he probably could get off of his face even if he wanted to, he stepped into the elevator.

One this was for sure, something that became even more clear the closer he got to her. She certainly was extraordinary.

**The End (or Fin, Einde, Loppu, Koniec, Ende, 末端, well I think you get the point...)**

-

**A/N: This is the end, but I'm thinking of making a sequel to see how their relationship develops. Anyway I want to thank everyone for reading and reviewing, you've all been totally awesome. If you've got the chance I would really like to know what you think about this story, a sequel, your live, snow and anything you want off you chests :P  
I hope you liked reading this just as much as I enjoyed writing it. Once again, thanks so much for your support, without your enthusiasm this story wouldn't even be finished by now. Like Castle says: "Ying Yang is harmony, Ying Ying is a name for a panda." So the story is Ying and the readers are Yang. So without you this story would just be a name for a panda. Just keep that in mind. :D  
**


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